The Carbs Are Worth It

I'm an extrovert. Really and truly I am. I delight in the attention of others. I get my kicks not on Route 66, but by making new friends and telling jokes and making people laugh. That being said, I LOATHE group assignments with a fiery, burning passion.

I wish to fling my project (and some of my group members) to the seventh circle of hell! That reminds me of a story... When my baby brother was about 5, one Sunday in Sunday School, the kids were asked to draw a picture of God beating the Devil or something like that. My little brother came home with a piece of paper where God was saying to Satan "I vanish you to heck!" Because he mistook "vanish" for "banish" and he knew "hell" was a bad word. Isn't that just one of the most precious things you've ever heard? But I digress.

Where was I? Ah, yes, righteously flinging group members to eternity in ceaseless fire. Sweet. But all this hatred for my group members doesn't mean I hate groups as a rule. Au contraire. I deeply love the Women's Chorus and wish to serve them as well as I can. I was selected as Second Soprano Section Leader and so I really feel a responsibility toward the organization. Which may or may not have lead to me baking 107 cookies at 12 a.m. on Friday night.

These cookies are my specialty. They've made me more friends than I can count. The recipe is from Paula Deen, who, as you may remember, is the Patron Saint of Desserts. They are 3 kinds of chocolatey sinfullness and topped off with some heath chips. To die for, people. To die for.

First, you begin with butter. A lot of it.

Then, when you've stared at that long enough that you feel your arteries clog; you add some shortening.

 I like to use butter flavored shortening, because... well... why stop at 2 sticks?

Next, you blend those two together until you make it light and fluffy on the outside. Inside, it is just as rich as you remember. Tricky.

Then you add helpful things like white sugar.

Then you pack ridiculous amounts of brown sugar. Confession: I loathe packing brown sugar;

But I simply adore the little sandcastle-like mound it makes when you dump it.

Then you give those sweet nothings a good beating. Then you add 3 eggs. Cage-free of course, for a clear conscience. At least as far as chickens go. You'll probably still feel guilty about abusing your waist-line, but hey, not my problem.

(P.S. Do I get bonus points for that sweet action shot?)

Then you add a teaspoon of vanilla. Wonky, awkward hand grip optional.

Then you shall lift your eyes up to the hills:

And you will see that it is good.

Then you segregate out a bunch of white powdery things that would probably really confuse Paris Hilton.

And now we can all take a moment to squee over the adorable measuring spoons my mother got me one Christmas.

Now look at the picture again, now back at me. Now back at the picture, now back at me. Well, you can't really see me, but I wanted to make an Old Spice joke. So sue me. Or, you know, gaze upon this glory:

Now, gather the troops:

The Mucinex in the top right corner is optional, but I think it gives the cookies a real kick. A lil' somethin extra.

Next begins Part 1 of what I like to call "Pour and Stir" because that's all you do.

Then you have to chop those cute little bittersweet squares.

And then comes Part 2 of Pour and Stir.

And after you think your arm is going to fall off and your spoon is going to break, you get this:

And it is glorious.

So then you ignore the recipe when it says to make 1/4 cup cookies. (Seriously, they're unmanageable.)

Then you bake them a minute or two less than the recipe calls for; you'll have to monitor for your oven/ how large you choose to make them.

And eventually, you'll get this:

And then you'll, of course, want to use the most precious, amazing spatula ever that your bestie gave you last year for Christmas:

And then you'll repeat until you have this:

Seriously, y'all? They're so good.

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1 cup milk chocolate morsels
• 3 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup almond brickle chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and shortening at medium speed until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in chocolate morsels and almond brickle chips. Drop cookies by 1/4 cupfuls about 3-inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool.

And here's the direct link, just in case you want to print, etc.: 

Three Chocolate Cookies

Y'all have a great day, and I hope you try these cookies soon! Or come visit me and I'll bake them for you. Either way, we'll all be getting fatter.

Well, No One Told Me to be Quiet...

Guten tag everyone! I hope your weekend was swell. I had a great weekend, truly, but I have no idea where all the time went. I swear it was just Friday and now it's late Sunday night (remember, I write in advance now. Because I'm all like responsible and adult-like and stuff.) and I still haven't done much in the way of schoolwork. Oh well, guess tomorrow is another little-sleep kind of day. Just means I'll have to drink coffee again tomorrow morning. Oh no, how awful. However will I survive being forced to drink the most delicious thing ever to come in contact with my tastebuds?

I'm actually rather good at living and surviving on little sleep. I guess part of it is that I'm so much healthier now that I've changed my diet for how I need to eat and so I have a lot more energy. I'm not addicted to caffeine anymore, even though I still use coffee as the occasional pick me up. And because I love it. (See above: most delicious thing.) I'm completely off of diet cokes (I know, shocker.) And I'm just generally much healthier. So maybe that's why I've been able to deal with little sleep so effectively?

On Thursday night, I only got 5 hours of sleep, but I made it to the gym at a little after 8, worked out, and then showered and changed and drove to San Marcos to have lunch with an old friend. She drove up from San Antonio, so we were meeting half way and it was amazing. :) I've missed her so much, even though we try to keep in touch via phone calls, there's nothing like seeing her beautiful, smiling face. We have plans again for October 1st. I'm so excited!

After lunch I boogied my way back to Austin. That's a lie. I drove, like a normal person. I really need to work on my word choice. And also embracing the concept of editing. I had a little down time and so I did my quiet time and that was pretty much the last time I was quiet for two days, because then I went to the first leg of our Men's and Women's Chorus "Retreat." It's not a real retreat because really we all just take the Forty Acres bus to the music school. But I digress.

It was rather fun. I made a lot of new friends and got all SUPER! HYPER! because being in social situations like that turns me into a ham and I just feel the need to be the center of attention and tell all the funny jokes and then I'm like supercharged and have zillions of new best friends. It was funny because all the boys lined up on one side of the room and all the girls on another. Just like a junior high dance. I wouldn't expect choir geeks to be very adept in navigating social landscapes, though. Especially when those landscapes are ridden with *gasp!* the opposite sex. 


We played a few silly games and some of the social barriers began to fall down. Then we went outside and a mass amount of men and women played capture the flag. Those of us that were too smart- I mean tired- to play in the 9 billion degree weather stood on the sidelines and bonded over our mutual detest for most physical activity. It was a great time.

Then I went to the grocery store with Kendall and then came home and baked cookies until all hours of the night. 105 of them. Tomorrow I'm going to do a picture post with the recipe so you can all have hunger pangs and sugar cravings. You're welcome. After baking, I finished re-writing a scene for my screenwriting class, emailed it to my class, and then fell into bed a little after 4 a.m.

Saturday morning, I woke up at 8. That means I got a little under 4 hours of sleep. Let that sink in. And yet, I made it to day two of the retreat without coffee or any form of caffeine. We sang for 2 hours, took a cookie break (the cookies were a huge hit, as they always are) and sang for another hour. We were in this amazing old concert hall tucked back in what was the original music school on campus. The acoustics were stellar. You might not know this about me because, well, this is a blog and therefore there are no sounds, but I can sing. Loudly. I swear, I heard myself over the entire choir a few times.

But no one told me to be quiet, so I just sang my little heart out. I think our concert is going to be beautiful. We have some amazing music this semester. I'm very excited and blessed to be a part of a choir again. I took my first two years of college off, but now I can't imagine being without it again. No matter where I go, I'll have to find a community or church choir or SOMETHING to feed my passion.

Singing is such a gift to me. It's how I worship, it's how I work through a lot of my emotions, and it's pure joy to me. I love creating music with my voice and I especially love adding my voice together with other voices to create a choir. It's a wonderful feeling and I'm very thankful that God gave me even passable vocal talent so that I could experience all these years of choir.

Sorry this was long and blabby. Tomorrow will have a lot of pictures and a delicious recipe, so that you can take a break. Although if you take too long of a break while staring at the pictures of butter, your arteries might harden. Just a warning.

Fashion Friday: Things I Would Buy, Were I but a Billionaire or a Size Two

Happy Premiere Fashion Friday! How apropos in light of New York Fashion Week and all. This week's theme is very simple. Let's call it "Things I Want for Fall." Because that is the only unifying theme. EDIT: Themes could also include "I'm Obsessed with Modcloth" and "Shoes Are My Mistress."

1) A nice coat/ jacket. (P.S. my comments are below each item!)

I like ones that are military-inspired like this First Brass Coat from Modcloth.

Or how about this Military Jacket from Target? Oh that's right... I already have this little number sitting in my closet, waiting for the heat index to drop below 100...

I love things that are super quirky and weird like the Lady Obsidian Jacket. I have a slight obsession with all things Victorian, and this is just one of the most delightful jackets I've ever seen. Most of my friends would hate it, but I would wear it with pride.

I also love classic coats with a feminine shape like the Big City Blues Coat in Red.

 And I am very Devoted To This Coat.

But my FAVORITE kind of coat (at the moment, at least) are coats with beautiful, frilly details. In the words of Rachel Zoe, I DIE for the Go Into Detail Coat. I don't know what I love best about this coat; The frills, the double row of big buttons, or the HOT PINK LINING.

I often imagine myself in a world where I had a closet full of coats. Coats for any outfit and any mood. Jackets for when the weather permitted. Colors and textures abound! Then I remember that I live in central Texas and a closet full of coats would be the biggest waste of money imaginable. But in that dream world that flickers in my heart, this Sovereign Style Coat is the piece de resistance! The crown jewel of my collection! I love it so hard, it hurts.

2. A nice, comfy fall dress.

I adore the idea of the Pleated Jersey Dress with a bright belt and boots. I tend to choose darker pieces for fall and winter, so I will choose grey or plum for many of these dresses, even though they come in other colors. This color is called "Bear Hug" so I'm really not sure how you could not buy it.

I'm all for a good argyle and this Argyle VNeck Sweater Dress is about as good as it gets. This would be so easy to throw on over leggings with some cute ballet flats for fall or boots for winter.

I am in passionate love with this 3/4 Sleeve Ruffled Dress because I think the ruffles would be absolutely darling peeking out from underneath a coat. I could just squee thinking about it!

This Academy Days Dress in Cranberry looks so effortlessly stylish and COMFORTABLE for those winter days when you hop out of your warm bed and you want to layer up fast.

Another effortlessly chic option, I love classic dresses like this Checks Mix Dress (such clever names on Modcloth.) The belt is already there! This would be charming by itself or over tights.

Now, remember that dream world from when I fantasized over coats? Be prepared to meet the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. I lust after this dress. I need to call on the name of Jesus to keep me from buying this dress. It is what I would want to be buried in, if only because that's probably the only way I can afford it right now. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. Judge for yourselves as I present to you the Deep Within the Armoire dress!

3. I am obsessed with shoes. Here are some I would love for fall:

I basically love these Teacher's Pet Oxfrord Heels more than life itself.

And the Blue Button Beauty Boot plays into my love of all things Victorian, despite its unfortunate and rather annoying name.

I find these Get Your Kicks Wedges a delightful way to add comfortable height and a great pop of color in the fall. Side Note:  Do these count as blue suede shoes?

And, to end with some beautiful boots, I think these Kagome Western Boots are wonderfully slouchy and are a steal at thirty dollars!


That's all for the first edition of Fashion Friday! I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll be back come Monday!

At Least It's Quasi-Informative

Here is my new blog plan. Let's come up with a snappy title, eh? How about "Blog Writing Agenda Fall 2010?" No, that's not near snappy enough. "Blagenda 2010!" I like it. See, I smooshed "Blog" and "Agenda" together to make "Blagenda." This is the stuff of legend, people. So let's get to it:

Blagenda 2010:

1) Write a day in advance and set posts to auto-publish at 9 a.m.
2) Post Monday-Friday.
3) Totally and blatantly rip off Big Mama and do Fashion Friday. Because I love fashion and Friday and this gives my offensively frequent online shopping habit a reason to exist. Research for my readers!

So that's the Blagenda 2010. Meaning this post is the last (ish) late-night post and after this I will pre-write tomorrow's Fashion Friday! Squee! (Sidenote: I don't know what I meant by "pre-write" as I'm not pre-writing it, I'm just writing it...) So hopefully my new Blagenda 2010 will keep me honest and regular, like a good fiber cereal, and I will start to build my poor, abandoned blog back up to its former glory. And by "former glory" I mean that I wrote one really good post, and other than that, my blog has flourished in obscurity.

I Promise...

I have a very ginormous post on my mind that I will be working on tomorrow afternoon. Until then, please take the time for some huge belly laughs via the recent posts from Big Mama, Jenn, and Allie. I've been in stitches all week thanks to these ladies.

Talk to y'all soon and have a great day!

I've Already Used That Phoenix Metaphor...

My poor, sweet, abandoned blog.

My heart aches for the awful things I've done to you. I am an evil blogger and I have paid my retribution. Well, not really. But I am awfully sorry. And this time I'm not making any promises to hang around. I'm like a dead-beat dad. I do want to stay with you, dear bloggie, but I just never know when that wanderin' wind will kick up inside me and I'll leave again.

Except that I have done a whole lot of maturing these last few months and I'm, like, totally a billion times more responsible. Totes. The thing is, I enjoy writing. I more than enjoy writing, I love it, long for it. And it seems both silly and odd to me that I would let something as therapeutic and effortless as a blog go unwritten.

And so here I am, little blog. Here I am, and here you are, and here we'll stay. At least for a while. I also hope I'll eventually build up some readers so I can address them and not you, Blog. Not that I don't love you, of course. Just that, well, it gets lonely since you never talk back.

Xoxo,
Kaitlin

P.S. Do you want a new layout? Just wondering.